Bass, Berry & Sims

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One hundred years after its inception, Bass, Berry & Sims continues to lead clients through increasingly complex legal challenges. Our highly skilled attorney teams aim to provide a profound understanding of our clients’ businesses and perspective, sound judgment, efficiency and responsiveness to every matter. As a firm of over 350 attorneys, we offer our clients services in over 75 practice areas from our four offices in Nashville, Knoxville, Memphis and Washington, D.C.

At Bass, Berry & Sims, we prioritize attorney development and foster a people-first culture. When it comes to seeking attorneys for open positions, we prioritize quality collaborative and tenacious individuals with diverse backgrounds. We aim to cultivate the growth of each individual who becomes part of our firm and endeavor to meet the goals of each attorney and the needs of our clients.

We recruit and maintain a talented and diverse team of attorneys within our offices. Embracing diversity and inclusion strengthens who we are as a firm and enhances the services we can provide to our clients. To this end, we have devoted substantial recruitment efforts to attracting and developing industry-leading attorneys who will bring a wide variety of backgrounds and life experiences to our team.

Our People First Culture

We are committed to developing our people both professionally and personally. As a part of that commitment, we offer comprehensive healthcare and benefits programs as well as a 401k program with a competitive employer match.

Our flexible, hybrid working policy does not require a certain number or percentage of days in the office. We provide many amenities in our offices including regular catered lunches, a barista, paid on-site parking, and a telecommuting stipend to support effective remote work. In addition, our sabbatical program gives eligible attorneys one month off to truly unplug. We have a robust wellness program and offer access to an Employee Assistance Program and a telehealth provider.

Parents receive generous leave and can take advantage of benefits related to starting and raising a family as well as college savings plans. We also offer domestic partner benefits.

Our attorneys appreciate an array of professional benefits, such as reimbursement for bar and civic organizations, continuing legal education and licensing fees.

Professional Development

The professional development program at Bass, Berry & Sims is designed to advance attorneys’ substantive knowledge, professional skills and client service. With firm-wide initiatives, a unique approach to integration, practice specific training and personalized coaching, we cultivate growth and help attorneys pursue their goals.

Core Competencies – Our firm’s Core Competencies are the foundation of the professional development program. These competencies identify the material skills and abilities that all our attorneys need in order to achieve long-term sustainable success. We use these competencies as a platform from which to promote the development of attorneys, ensure superior client service, and sustain the firm’s culture of excellence. We draw on these competencies to form a framework for recruiting and evaluating attorneys, for developing and planning training programs, and for facilitating each attorney’s ability to seek out the experiences necessary to fully develop in his/her area of practice.

Integration – Upon joining the firm, first year associates and lateral associates are guided through an orientation and integration program that is customized to their experience level and interests. New attorneys at the firm join one of our practice groups and receive support, direction and assignments from group leadership.

Mentoring – Associates are paired with more experienced associates and supervising members to help them navigate opportunities and achieve their potential. Supervising members play a key role in development, meeting with associates quarterly to provide coaching and performance feedback. At the end of the year, the supervising members summarize the feedback and review it with each associate, setting the agenda for the next year’s growth.

Training – In addition to on-the-job training, the firm hosts various annual learning opportunities adapted specifically to associates, including the following:

• An eight-week substantive training program for junior associates.
• An immersive, two-day program aimed at helping our mid-level associates better appreciate the intersection of law and business.
• An interactive client service academy for senior associates.

Associates are also invited to join client-facing webinars and have access to high-quality research tools and external continuing legal education opportunities.

Member Development – We are proud of our track-record for advancing associates and helping them meet their career goals. We invite attorneys to become members of our firm based on a number of factors, including development of our core competencies, substantive legal skills, professional skills and client service.

We continue supporting attorneys with a similar suite of professional development efforts throughout their careers. For example, we host a two-year program for new members to provide in-depth knowledge and skills about firm management and legal industry development so they can best help further the mission of the firm and to become productive firm leaders. Members also have access to individual coaching, leadership development programs and advanced professional skills trainings.

Pro Bono Commitment

Public service is part of who we are as a firm. Bass, Berry & Sims is committed to pursuing systemic change to eradicate the root causes of legal, social, and economic inequalities.
The firm’s commitment to pro bono focuses on three primary areas: strengthening families, empowering communities, and protecting civil rights.

The firm’s commitment to pro bono was strengthened in 2019 when we launched a comprehensive new initiative for attorneys to give back to the community and tackle significant legal issues. This expanded dedication of resources has had a measurable impact – more than tripling the time committed to pro bono work and expanding our work for systemic change.
This initiative increased the billable hour credit for all attorneys to dedicate to pro bono activities. For non-member attorneys, 100 hours annually are counted toward the annual billable hour requirement, encouraging attorneys to devote more time to serve in pro bono capacities. For members, the firm provides pro bono credit to individuals who devote significant time to pro bono work.

A cornerstone of our dedication to pro bono is the Pro Bono Fellows program, also launched in 2019. This initiative allows attorneys across the firm’s four offices to spend up to six months working full-time in a pro bono capacity within the community.